PRODUCT GUIDE With Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors, the handmade quality of the paint respects the Centuries of Tradition upon which all quality professional paints are made. But at the same time, we are a modern company, born from the melting pot of today’s creative world-class. Our reputation was not inherited; it was built by working face to face with artists. We keep our promises, never hide behind tradition and hold fast to whatever makes beautiful color. Williamsburg is a US brand, manufactured in New Berlin, New York. As a professional oil paint, it stands competitively alongside established European brands. The Williamsburg colors are incredibly pigment rich, with a dense yet buttery texture; each color has its own finish and feel creating not only a palette of color, but also texture. Williamsburg has an extensive range of Cobalt and Cadmium colors, as well as has a number of unique colors, particularly within the wide range of earth colors. Examples include: The Native Italian Earth Colors, Courbet Green, Persian Rose, Cyprus Orange, Montserrat Orange, Stil de Grain and Turkey Umber. The History of Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors In the mid-1980s artist Carl Plansky began making paint for himself and his friends in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He had no intention of turning his passion into a business, but interest in his paint escalated to a point where the business of ‘Williamsburg Art Supply’ was established out of necessity. Beginning with a small milling machine Ultramarine Pink Cadmium Red Deep Alizarin Yellow Stil De Grain Each pigment is milled to its own unique standard, developing the richest expression of color and undertone. This approach preserves the range of texture oil paints had in the past. These variations in grind are categorized into four groups: (Left to right) Very Fine, Fine, Medium and Coarse. provided by artist Milton Resnick, Carl’s paint About Williamsburg Pigments making operation grew to employ several people and was moved just outside Oneonta, Getting the proper pigment is just the New York. Williamsburg’s oil paints accumulated beginning. So much of the quality of oil paint a following and international presence while is in the milling. With Williamsburg, each color preserving the handmade integrity of the paint. is milled to enhance the beauty and luminosity Carl had always been interested in pigments, specific to that particular pigment. Some colors oils, mediums, and old-world recipes, and will feel slightly gritty; others extremely smooth, enjoyed experimenting with traditional materials. preserving the wider range of differences oil Wherever he traveled he would research the paints had in the past. Cerulean Blue will history of painting and the relationship between have a beautiful velvet, light-absorbing surface painters and paint makers. with an extremely strong covering power; the In France he bought colors from the houses Siennas will often have a lesser grind and feel that had made paints for Monet, Matisse, and slightly gritty due to the larger pigment particle Cézanne then analyzed their paint to see how size. This grind allows light to travel through fine or coarse the grind was and to determine the vehicle, exposing rich golden or mahogany where they found their pigments and oils. undertones instead of just heavy, dull browns. With this same passion, he continued to Just as in fine wines, the terroir defines the search for the most beautiful raw materials in specific soils, geology, minerals and climate the world, importing pigments from dozens of that create the unique qualities of each wine, countries so he could offer them to his fellow so do the various minerals in these very unique artists as paint and dry pigment. soils of oxides produce a very specific note of The legacy and integrity of Carl’s paint color, undertone and transparency. business survived his death in October of 2009. Most Williamsburg pigments are milled in The team he built at Williamsburg Handmade pure, premium, alkali-refined linseed oil, the Oil Colors has preserved the passion and most durable and flexible of the different kinds creativity that Carl imparted under the of oils. There is also a line of colors milled leadership of Beverly Plansky, Carl’s sister and in safflower oil, designed for glazing and the business partner. top layers of a painting where flexibility is less In the Spring of 2010 Golden Artist Colors important and reduced yellowing over time is assumed responsibility for realizing Carl’s desired. dream for truly unique paints and mediums Our process gives us total control over the that reflect not only the traditions of painting product, much like the late nineteenth-century in Europe and North America, but the artist’s French color makers. All the materials are passion that drives them forward. Carl himself hand measured, and every ounce of paint is claimed that only Golden Artist Colors could scrutinized. make oil paints with the integrity and style of Paints are available in 37 and 150 ml non- Williamsburg. reactive aluminum tubes, as well as 8 oz., 16 oz. 32 oz. and gallon aluminum cans. WILLIAMSBURG COLORS Cobalt Violet Light This section reviews the color families #6000728 PV 49 - Cobalt Ammonium of the Williamsburg line. Our extensive Phosphate offering features a wide range of cobalt i Transparent Very Fine and cadmium colors, several specialty Lightfastness: Excellent* blends, a large and varied assortment Ethereal, delicate, sublime. Not a strong tinter. of earth colors, and more. Cobalt Violet Deep LEGEND #6000748 PV 14 - Cobalt Phosphate h Opaque / j Semi-Opaque k Semi-Transparent Very Fine i Transparent / k Semi-Transparent Lightfastness: I - Excellent Richer, bluer, and stronger than the Violet Light Very Fine / Fine with a beautiful, deep, opaque glow. Medium / Coarse ASTM Lightfastness Rating: Cerulean Blue (Genuine) I Excellent / II Good / III Fair #6000848 N/A Not Yet Tested PB 35 - Cobalt Stannate h Opaque Fine *GOLDEN Lightfastness Rating: Lightfastness: I - Excellent follows ASTM D4303 procedures Velvety, changeable blue. Greenish? Greyish? EX Excellent / GD Good / FR Fair Warm? Cool? Light and airy or dense and opaque. Absorbs and reflects light in an interesting way. Cobalt & Cerulean Oil Colors As a group, the Cobalts offer one of the widest Cerulean Blue French #6000857 spectral gamuts of any pigment available, and PB 36 - Cobalt Chromate almost no company carries as many examples Blue-Green Spinel as we do. These include three beautifully j Semi-Opaque Very Fine translucent hues often used in glazes and Lightfastness: I - Excellent delicate tints – Cobalt Yellow along with Cobalt Similar to our regular Cerulean but made with Violet Light and Deep. These are joined by less tin. Therefore, it’s slightly greener and multiple shades of Cobalt Teal, Turquoise and deeper. Cobalt Green, a bright and pristine Cobalt Blue along with its redder cousin, Cobalt Blue Deep, Cobalt Teal Greenish and finally both a traditional Cerulean Blue #6000786 (Genuine) and a deeper Cerulean Blue French, PG 50 - Oxides of Nickel, to make a total of 12 Cobalt colors in all. Cobalt & Titanium h Opaque Very Fine Cobalt Yellow Lightfastness: I - Excellent #6000508 A very, very strong color. This is not a mix or PY 40 - Cobalt Potassium Nitrate tint, but the absolutely most intense turquoise i Transparent Fine we have ever seen. A pure cobalt with no Lightfastness: II - Good adulterants. It is very exotic, almost Caribbean A spectrum transparent yellow. or Moroccan in feeling. Clear, limpid, exquisite. Like the yellow in some of Turner’s skies. Cobalt Teal Bluish Cobalt Green #6000817 #6001250 PB 28 - Oxides of Cobalt PG 26 - Cobalt Chromite Green and Aluminum Spinel h Opaque Very Fine h Opaque Very Fine Lightfastness: I - Excellent Lightfastness: N/A Another very strong and beautiful, pure cobalt. A dark valued opaque blue green. Cobalt Green Not a mixer or tinter. Straight ahead color. Just and its accompanying tint are reminiscent of a as bright and rich as our other Cobalt Teal, but pine forest of silvery needles. more bluish in tone. Williamsburg Cadmium Oil Colors Cobalt Turquoise Greenish One of the widest ranges available anywhere, #6000887 with 12 pure shades running from a bright, PB 36 - Oxides of Cobalt, almost electric Cadmium Lemon Yellow to a Chromium & Aluminum very deep and rich Cadmium Purple. We fill out h Opaque Very Fine Lightfastness: I - Excellent this range with two Cadmium Greens made Similar in hue to our regular turquoise, from a traditional blend of Cadmium Yellow but does not reflect the light back. It absorbs and Viridian Green. We use only the highest, light like velvet and has a mysterious surface. purest grades of cadmium pigments to create colors of exceptional density and tinting Cobalt Turquoise Bluish strength while still maintaining a smooth, #6000907 buttery feel. These colors can hold their own PB 36 - Oxides of Cobalt, against any Cadmium on the market. Chromium & Aluminum h Opaque Very Fine Cadmium Lemon Lightfastness: I - Excellent #6000246 A very, very rich velvety color with a deep PY 35 - C.P. Cadmium Zinc Sulfide surface. Slightly darker, greener than Cerulean. h Opaque Fine Lightfastness: I - Excellent Cobalt Blue Very high-pitched, slightly acidic and greenish. #6000927 Electric. PB 28 - Oxides of Cobalt and Aluminum Cadmium Yellow Light j Semi-Opaque Very Fine #6000286 Lightfastness: I - Excellent PY 35 - C.P. Cadmium Zinc Sulfide Ground with the maximum amount of the h Opaque Fine pigment to give this normally translucent color Lightfastness: I - Excellent more covering strength. A true spectrum blue, Beautifully clear and strong. Our light highly saturated, with no green or red bias. is very light. Cobalt Blue Deep Cadmium Yellow Medium #6000937 #6000366 PB 28 - Oxides of Cobalt PY 35 - C.P.